Brewer v. Quarterman

Arguments for the Brewer v. Quarterman case were presented to the court in January of 2007. Brent Ray Brewer was found guilty and sentenced to death for a murder he committed during the course of a robbery. At his sentencing, his attorneys argued the fact that the judge had instructed the jury in this case to ignore mitigating evidence that included Brewer's current unstable mental state and the many acts of emotional and physical abuse throughout the course of his childhood. Furthermore, the judge had instructed the jury to focus solely on whether or not they believed that the murder was intentional, and whether or not Brewer would be considered a continuing threat to society and capable of causing harm to others in the future.

During sentencing, Brewer and his counsel argued that Brewer did not deserve the death penalty due to his emotional disabilities and that the trial court's instructions to the jurors to dismiss their mitigating evidence did not allow the jury the ability to give full consideration to the evidence confirming Brewer's mental instability as presented by Brewer's counsel.

The final decision in this case was entered in Brewer's favor in April of 2007. Because the trial court had in fact prevented the jury from considering the facts as presented to them by Brewer's counsel and fundamental to his defense as being an individual with a severe, untreatable, and possibly permanent affliction, the instructions given to the jury to dismiss the mitigating evidence were found to be unconstitutional.

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